Our experts’ most anticipated cars of the year

We asked our contributors which vehicles they're champing at the bit to drive in 2016

by
Staff, Driving | February 23, 2016

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It’s hard to believe the first two months of 2016 are almost over, and we’ve barely begun to sample the long list of this year’s vehicles. Here are some of the highlights our writers are hoping to drive. Hey, we all need to dream!

Asking to pick a favourite car or truck out of this year’s crop of fresh metal is like asking a parent to choose a favourite child. Personally, I can’t wait to drive them all, from cheapo econocars to high-buck exotics. But, if asked to pick out a new 2016 or 2017 vehicle that particularly intrigues me, I’d have to go with the upcoming Jaguar F-Pace, which made its debut at last year’s Frankfurt Motor Show. This crossover appeals to both my love of British sports cars and a 40-plus-year familiarity with sport-utility vehicles and crossovers.

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The F-Pace is Jaguar’s first attempt at a crossover, and this follows a trend of luxury automakers with no previous experience with SUVs entering new contenders in this highly lucrative segment. Naturally, in addition to four-season capability, I expect the F-Pace to retain Jaguar’s superior driving dynamics and throaty engine sound.

Beyond that, anytime an automaker pulls one of its museum cars out of storage and jingles the keys, especially if it has a sporting heritage, it’s more than enough justification for me to jump on a plane.

Want a Ford GT? It might be more difficult, yet more rewarding, than you’d think

If there’s a theme to the vehicles I’m most excited about getting my hands on this year, it’s that they have a blue oval stuck to them somewhere. They’ve been putting a dose of crazy in the water coolers over at Dearborn, and the results are simply staggering. At the top of the heap, there’s the Ford GT, a twin-turbocharged, mid-engined monster developed in a secret underground lab.

To think that the humble Model T would have this thing as a descendant boggles the mind; it’s like finding out that the guy who invented the toaster also designed the Saturn V rocket. With a carbon-fibre body built by Multimatic Motorsports – Ontario-based suppliers of exotic composite materials for the likes of Aston-Martin – the Ford GT even carries a little Canadian DNA in it. And it’s manual-transmission only!

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If the halo car’s out of the question, then at least there’s a halfway decent shot I’ll be able to garner a spin in the Focus RS or the Mustang GT350. Both are modern performance icons in different ways: one the Euro hot hatch champ, the other the latest evolution of the pony car. One of each, please.

Porsche, too, has put out some real enthusiast pleasers over the past few months, including the Cayman GT4 and Boxster Spyder RS. For 911s, the current naturally-aspirated GTS seems like the pick of the litter, but there’s something even better coming. Tipped to bow at this year’s Geneva auto show, the 911 R ticks every box: It’s going to come with the GT3’s naturally-aspirated powertrain, a body devoid of give-the-game-away spoilers, and even narrow rubber for more sideways antics. Yes. Please.

I can’t wait to drive the 2017 Jaguar F-Type convertible. This is the car that finally toppled my consuming Porsche love (still love ya, Porsche, you just now have a very viable suitor). If for any reason you get your butt in one of these (yell out to journos you see; we love to share the experience, if you don’t seem weird or creepy), then head to a tunnel. I know it’s hard to find tunnels, but if you want to hear a true automotive symphony, roar an F-Type through a tunnel.

I also would like to drive the new Chrysler Pacifica. Because I’m well rounded that way.

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We were asked to name a car we can’t wait to drive this year, implying that we’ll actually get a chance to get behind the wheel. Well, it’s highly unlikely that I’ll ever get to drive one, but I’d like to spend some quality time with the Pagani Huayra.

Pagani Huayra

Of course it’s cliché to select the most exotic, most expensive supercar on the market, a car whose name I can barely pronounce, and one that fetches seven digits, whether you pay for it in pounds (more than 1 million), euros (1.5 million) or loonies (2.3 million). But although I have driven a number of exotic cars over the years — even one powered, like the Huayra, by a Mercedes-AMG V12 — I’ve never luxuriated in a car that literally makes you feel like a million-plus bucks. The alternative is to drive about 230 Nissan Micras. Where’s the fun in that?

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The last five years have been a boon for any fan of horsepower. And it all has to do with the reinvention of the engine. Today, powerful rides are found on practically every showroom floor. My bucket list includes the upcoming Porsche 718 Boxster. Out goes the naturally-aspirated, flat-six in favour of new 2.0- and 2.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinders. Both bring a healthy hike in horsepower, which is good. It is the available torque, however, that promises to make the difference — the 2.0-litre has 280 lb.-ft. at 1,950 rpm, while the S’s 2.5-litre engine bumps that to 310 lb.-ft. at 1,900 rpm. With a neat and nimble package, this combination promises good things.

Porsche’s refreshed 718 Boxster and Boxster S

The other ride I can’t wait for is the reinvented Audi R8 V10 — particularly, the R8 V10 Plus. Along with its lightweight aluminum/carbon-fibre chassis comes a V10 engine that twists out 610 horses and 413 lb.-ft. of torque. Now if this sounds familiar, well, it is — think Lamborghini Huracán LP 610-4!

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X marks the spot. The long-anticipated and finally arrived Tesla Model X, while not the game-changer its soon-to-be stablemate Series III promises to be, is an all-electric luxury SUV as quick as a sports car and as loaded with tantalizing Tesla tech as the Model S. Sign me up.

The Tesla Model X is displayed on September 29, 2015 in Fremont, California.

And then of course there’s the Series III. Tesla visionary Elon Musk set the Twitter-sphere alight recently with his proclamation that the small sedan will retail in the States for $35,000. If true, even with the dismal Canadian dollar, this vehicle represents an entry-level point for a much larger swath of the population than the near six-figure Model S. This truly could be a game-changer for the many people I know who covet a Tesla but are prohibited by their middle-class income — such as automotive journalists.

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Hard to believe, but I’m probably the only auto writer in existence who has yet to spend time behind the wheel of the newest MX-5 Miata. I’ve driven all of its previous incarnations; on the racetrack, competing in a three-day rally incorporating the notorious Tail of the Dragon and once scored an Autocross win against a field of Porsches with twice the horsepower. As an eight-time Mazda owner, I’m a huge fan of this ultra-communicative and nimble little roadster, and I’m really looking forward to the day we finally meet.

2016 Mazda MX-5

It’s right up there with unicorn sightings and lottery wins, but I’ve always harboured a secret desire to drive a Porsche 917k. Slippery as a porpoise, with the long tapered fins of a rocket, the 917k epitomizes the raw glory of the 1960s and the heyday of Le Mans endurance racing. Perhaps the catastrophically expensive experience of the last auto writer to drive one should make me grateful that I have, at least, sat in it – if only because I was one of the few people who could actually fit.